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Gateway To Success: St. Louis Small Business Owners In Growth Mode
[April 29, 2016]

Gateway To Success: St. Louis Small Business Owners In Growth Mode


The majority of small business owners across the nation are looking to maintain their business at its current size, however, in the city of St. Louis owners are looking to significantly grow their business, according to The Hartford's 2015 Small Business Success Study.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160429005114/en/

"At The Hartford, it is important for us to understand everything we can about the small business owners we insure in order to better prepare and protect them from the unexpected," said Stephanie Bush, executive vice president, Small Commercial insurance at The Hartford. "We also know how critical small businesses are to the local community. As a St. Louis native, I am excited to see the impact the entrepreneurial spirit is having in my home city."

The study found that 56 percent of St. Louis owners are looking to grow significantly, which includes a large increase in sales, revenue, the number of employees and the hours they work, compared with 33 percent of national owners. Fifty-five percent of small business owners nationally would rather maintain their business at its current size compared with only 39 percent of owners in St. Louis.

Although St. Louis small business owners are focused on growing their business, the study found that 77 percent of St. Louis owners say they are conservative in the overall level of risk they are taking with their business, which is consistent with their national peers.

Hiring, Feeling Successful
The focus on growth has carried over to hiring for St. Louis business owners - the study found that 54 percent of owners said they have hired in the past 12 months, significantly more than owners nationally (35 percent). About 60 percent of those who have hired recently have hired all they wanted to and 40 percent have not hired as much as they would have liked.

Of those who have not hired or not hired as much as they would have liked, 36 percent say it's because they are taking on the additional responsibilities themselves, compared to 26 percent nationally. Thirty-two percent cite a lack of qualified talent, compared to 17 percent nationally.

The study also found that 83 percent of St. Louis owners say they feel successful about how their business is operating now, compared with 73 percent nationally. The top three things local owners say are important to their definition of success are: to do something I feel passionate about or enjoy (2 percent), to make enough money to have a comfortable lifestyle (72 percent) and to increase the profitability of the business (70 percent).



Panel Discussion Today: Marketing Your Small Business
The Hartford will host a panel discussion today,"Taking a Lead - Marketing Your Small Business in the St. Louis Community", which will take place at Busch Stadium at 8:30 a.m. CT. The discussion will also highlight the key findings from The Hartford's Small Business Success Study findings in St. Louis.

Panelists include:


  • Dan Farrell, senior vice president, Sales and Marketing, St. Louis Cardinals
  • Gene Marks, small business owner, columnist and best-selling author
  • Stephanie Bush, executive vice president of Small Commercial insurance, The Hartford
  • Tim Barklage, CEO and co-founder, Better Life

Media is invited to attend today's event.

SBSS Metholodology
Braun Research and Ketchum Global Research & Analytics conducted a telephone survey among small business owners in St. Louis and across the United States for The Hartford's Small Business Success Study. A total of 2,003 interviews were completed nationally, as well as an oversample of 300 in the St. Louis, MO Designated Market Area (DMA) with owners of for-profit businesses with fewer than 100 full-time employees that have been in business for at least one year. One owner, co-owner, principle owner or sole owner per business was interviewed. The interviews were conducted between July 7-16, 2015. The National margin of error is ± 2.1 percentage points, St. Louis margin of error is ± 5.7 percentage points.

For more information on these survey results, visit www.thehartford.com/successstudy.

For more news about The Hartford, visit: http://newsroom.thehartford.com/.

About The Hartford
With more than 200 years of expertise, The Hartford (NYSE:HIG) is a leader in property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds. The company is widely recognized for its service excellence, sustainability practices, trust and integrity. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at www.thehartford.com. Join us on Facebook (News - Alert) at www.facebook.com/TheHartford. Follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) at www.twitter.com/TheHartford_PR.

HIG-C

Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q, and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.

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